(July 10th, 2002)
Jude: Often, you're asked to recreate a character or type of character that you already play, but with Maguire... I read the piece and I didn't really--couldn't really figure out which role Sam was interested in me for. So when he said it was Maguire, I--it was really heartening for me, because in a way it was an opportunity to work with someone who obviously thought I could make a leap.
(woman): Your character Maguire is a crime photographer who doubles as a--as a hit man! [Jude nods and mumbles "mm hmm"] You describe him as a cross between a pit bull and a rat.
Jude: That's right.
Jude: [strokes beard] Yeah... I mean, a lot of fun, actually. A lot of parts I've played in the past [pauses]. The trick is being to try and find something [struggles for the right word] amiable, approachable, and friendly in a darker kind of personality, or the other way around. And with Maguire, he was so obviously the out-and-out bad guy, it was kind of enjoyable just to relish how to physicalize that, and how to make this personality threatening in what is already quite a threatening world. I mean, Maguire exists in a pretty masculine, pretty atrocious world already.
(woman): The world of gangsters.
Jude: A world of gangsters! And I mean, he's really there to remind you that the one redeeming factor of all the characters is their families, the love of their family and their need to protect their family. Maguire seemingly has no family, no wife, no past, no connections, he simply embraces his life as a photographer and as a killer. So putting together the little things, like the nails, the teeth, the way he walks... the rat qualities were more him kind of sniffing around [makes a face where he sniffs like a rodent] trying to work out how to trace someone.
(woman): And the pit bull?
Jude: The pit bull is in the way he walks, because we wanted him still to be threatening. If he was just weasely and little, you'd kind of think that Hanks could break him in two, ya know, with no problem. So he still had to look a little bit like a prize fighter [shoot out clip between Jude and Hanks is shown].
(woman): I interviewed Tom Hanks and Stanley Tucci about this movie already, and when I mentioned your name [points at him], their eyes lit up, and they spoke so highly of you and your performance in this movie.
Jude: Oh, gosh. [he smiles and looks down]
(woman): What was it like to be with Tom Hanks in this movie? And Paul Newman!
Jude: And Stanley.
(woman): And Stanley!
Jude: I mean, the cast across the board was just extraordinary. It's not just the thrill of being in the moment, working with great actors like that. It's also an opportunity to sit back when you're not working, and just watch greats at work, ya know, and you learn so much.
(woman): So you watch and learn.
Jude: Absolutely. Not just the way that they carry themselves as actors, but also just as people. And it really was an inspiration. It was just a joy to be there everyday, to get up and go to work, ya know, and stay there for as long as they needed you, ya know... enjoying yourself.
(woman): Paul Newman described you as [looks down at a sheet of notes] confident... Sam Mendes, you mentioned, the director, called you a fearless actor. [Jude laughs] Are those good words to describe you?
Jude: I think so! [woman laughs] I'll leave it at that! Yeah, wow...
(woman): Where'd that come from? Where does that fearlessness come from?
Jude: [long pause] Fear! [laughs] I suppose... well, I suppose, you know... if you're in that company, your initial reaction is 'What am I doing here?' you know? When am I--when are they--gonna work it out that I don't belong here, ya know? And yet to get on with the job, I suppose, you have to take a deep breath, calm yourself, and do your best. And I like a challenge, I suppose. I like being asked to raise my game.
(woman): You've been acting since you were a kid, but it was really your breakthrough role in The Talented Mr. Ripley that really put you on the map. How did that change your career? How did that movie change your career?
Jude: [pauses for a moment] It's funny how you always feel apologetic, thinking that one film changed ones life. [small clip from The Talented Mr. Ripley is shown where Tom introduces himself to Dickie on the beach for the first time] Apart from the fact that it was a really showy part, it was a wonderful part with a great kind of energy to it--
(woman): So you knew that it was a... catapulter--
Jude: Yeah, you kinda knew--again it's about raising your game. You kinda knew that 'okay, this is an opportunity to be seen by the kind of people that you'd like to see your movie'.
(woman): It got you an Oscar nomination.
